Houellebecq Headlines Eventi Letterari Festival in Switzerland

French novelist Michel Houellebecq will be the featured guest at the Eventi Letterari festival in Monte Verità, Switzerland, from March 26th to 29th, culminating in a closing event on Sunday, March 29th at 6:00 PM.

The festival, inspired by the perform of Leonard Cohen, centers around the theme “Dance Me to the End of Love,” a reference to Cohen’s song of the same name. Organizers noted the thematic resonance with Houellebecq’s own work, which often explores themes of melancholy and a critical perspective on contemporary society. The event is framed as “a sweet requiem for humanity,” according to festival materials.

Houellebecq’s appearance at Monte Verità precedes a series of ten concerts scheduled at La Scala in Paris in April. At the festival, he will discuss love, music, and poetry as forms of thought and expression, addressing the contradictions of the present without offering easy answers, according to organizers.

The 14th edition of the Eventi Letterari is organized by the Associazione Eventi letterari Monte Verità, under the presidency of Raphaël Brunschwig. The festival program and ticket information are available online.

Houellebecq recently described his writing as being preoccupied with “desire, solitude and competition,” characterizing it as a “diagnosis of the present.” He also emphasized his connection to oral poetry, stating, “Like many people who write poems, I am in favor of oral poetry,” highlighting the relationship between writing and voice.